Paul Irwin, Mccormick Executive

Paul Irwin, a retired McCormick & Co. official and former Ruxton resident, died of cancer April 8 at his home in San Rafael, Calif. He was 83.

Mr. Irwin was born and raised in Chestnut Hill, Pa. He was a 1943 graduate of The Putney School in Putney, Vt.

After serving during World War II with the 87th Infantry Division in Europe, where he attained the rank of sergeant, Mr. Irwin enrolled at the University of Virginia and earned a bachelor's degree in economics in 1949.

Mr. Irwin worked in New York City for J.P. Morgan & Co. and then joined McCormick & Co. in 1955. He held sales and marketing management positions before being named vice president and chairman of McCormick-Schilling.

Mr. Irwin, who later moved to Watsonville, Calif., and maintained a second home in San Rafael, retired in 1990.

He had been a trustee of The Putney School and a volunteer for the Washington-based Citizens Network for Foreign Affairs. He had also been president of the Foundation of the University of California at Santa Cruz and president of the Watsonville Rotary Club.

He was a former member of the L'Hirondelle Club and had been a communicant of the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in Ruxton.

A memorial service for Mr. Irwin will be held at 11 a.m. April 25 at St. Paul Episcopal Church in Watsonville.

Surviving are his wife of 30 years, the former Anne Timon; a son, Douglas P. Irwin of Wellesley, Mass.; four daughters, Carolin Buttrick of New Canaan, Conn., Gail I. Nava of Cuernavaca, Mexico, Dana I. Plays of Tampa, Fla., and Laura I. Imrie of Wilton, Conn.; a stepson, Keith Gronendyke of Lakeport, Calif.; a stepdaughter, Joy Lozano of Santa Rosa, Calif.; two sisters, Anne Bourgois of New York City and Sydney Baiman of Chicago; and 15 grandchildren. A previous marriage to the former Margaret McCann ended in divorce.